PHPD speaks to paving specialist Marshalls to find out how it helped Redrow Homes incorporate aesthetically pleasing sustainable paving solutions into its development at Davington Park in Faversham, Kent.
Davington Park is a large housing development of ‘New Heritage’ properties by Redrow Homes in Faversham, Kent. At the site the housebuilder wanted to contribute to the quality of the environment by combining engineered solutions and opportunities provided by individual sites to create features which help mitigate the effects of flooding and pollution.
With a sustainable design in mind, in particular sustainable water management, Redrow Homes and Kent County Council were seeking to use permeable paving for the very first time at Davington Park.
Complement the streetscape
As well as considering the environmental impacts, the design by architects Kirwans had to complement the existing streetscape, echoing the style of the houses along a creek and in the neighbourhood.
The client wanted the development to possess an identity with strong architectural design features, whilst considering a plan which would create an urban residential area, offering homeowners high-quality hard landscaping and family-friendly accommodation.
Permeable paving
Marshalls’ Priora concrete block permeable paving system was chosen for the hard-landscaped areas. Combining the ever popular aesthetics of Keyblok block paving with a source-control SuDS solution, Priora not only looks good but also mitigates flood risk, removes surface water and improves water quality – without the need for additional linear drainage systems.
Permeable paving is a sustainable water management solution for housing developments, and Redrow selected the Priora system which not only offers an excellent sustainable urban drainage (SuDs) solution, but the hard landscaped area in Priora Brindle complements the surroundings and offers outstanding performance.
The system features a patented nib on the edge of each block which creates a series of voids at the joint to allow surface water to pass through into a specially prepared sub-base. This has the permeability of 18,750 litres/sec/hectare. Consequently there is no excess water run-off – which can be seen with impermeable surfaces such as tarmac and concrete. Permeable paving allows water to drain naturally back into the ground exceptionally quickly.
The patented nibs on each of the Priora blocks also interlock to enhance surface stability. The product is suitable for all loading applications including abnormally heavy wheel loads and is compliant to BS EN 1338: 2003.
Meeting SuDs regulation
Chris Griffiths, Marshalls water expert, said: “It was a pleasure to work on this
project with Redrow homes, and we are thrilled with the result. Our Priora paving has not only helped the housing development create a sustainable drainage solution, but it also compliments the scheme to give a beautiful finished aesthetic. We are excited to continue work on future water management projects with Redrow.”
Justin Reader, Technical Co-ordinator at Redrow Homes commented: “The reason we chose permeable paving was to comply with SuDs regulation which was important to both us and the client.
“We were engaged in discussions with Kent Highways on introducing the product as a test to see how it faired in a housing development setting and decided to choose Marshalls for their expertise and knowledge of the design to help in our consultation going forward.
